


Of Loth-Cats, Lasats, and Love

by HixyStix



Series: 2020 Kalluzeb Appreciation Week [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HixyStix/pseuds/HixyStix
Summary: Zeb does not like loth-cats.  Loth-cats love Zeb.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios
Series: 2020 Kalluzeb Appreciation Week [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714975
Comments: 22
Kudos: 161
Collections: Kalluzeb appreciation week 2020., The Gay Awakens





	Of Loth-Cats, Lasats, and Love

**Author's Note:**

> Fills the prompt "Adopting" for the 2020 Kalluzeb Appreciation Week.
> 
> Thanks to [Anath_Tsurugi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anath_Tsurugi/pseuds/Anath_Tsurugi) for letting me use her Lasana word for cat: _Tikita_.
> 
> A big thank you to [whiplashcrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiplashcrash/pseuds/whiplashcrash) for a wonderful beta job!
> 
> Also, just for reference: All loth-cats are tookas, but not all tookas are loth-cats.
> 
> I played with the timeline a little for story purposes. Bear with me.

**_ Lothal, One Day After Liberation _ **

They’d done it. They’d forced the Empire off Lothal. They’d lost people – good people – in the process and Lothal had a lot of cleanup to do, but this was still a victory for the Rebellion as a whole.

Now they just had to keep it from falling back into Imperial hands.

Zeb sat in the tall grass outside Capital City, looking out at the landscape. He’d barely had a moment to catch his breath since the battle in the Imperial complex; the city was still celebrating and the _Ghost_ crew were being fêted as heroes.

It was a little much for Zeb, to tell the truth. He’d wanted a break, so Hera had suggested he try the fields outside town for some desperately needed solitude.

The quiet was nice, he had to admit. Zeb leaned back and closed his eyes, facing the setting sun. Its warmth was comforting. It felt like Lasan’s sun on his face, and for a moment he was back home, with his nieces and nephews crawling on him like they used to–

Wait. He wasn’t imagining that feeling. Reluctantly pushing away the memories of his lost family, he opened his eyes to find a burnt orange loth-cat sitting on his chest.

“Mrow?” it trilled, tilting its head as if it was asking a question.

“Get off me, cat,” he growled, making an angry face at it.

The loth-cat wasn’t intimidated. It started kneading Zeb’s fur, purring happily. When Zeb tried to push it off him, it responded by digging its claws in painfully.

He glared at it. “Cat…” he said warningly. “You need to get out of here. I don’t like you.”

The only answer he got was a deep, contented purr as the loth-cat turned circles before settling down. It appeared to be sleeping, but it still kneaded its sharp claws through his jumpsuit and into Zeb’s chest. Zeb growled a little at the pain, but it still didn’t deter the loth-cat.

“I’m gonna punt you into next week,” he threatened, picking up the loth-cat’s front feet to stop the kneading.

“Zeb?” A questioning voice came from behind him.

Zeb froze momentarily. He knew that voice, kriff, he had dreamed about that voice. “Kal?” he said, surprised. “How’d you find me?”

He heard Kallus come up behind him, boots rustling in the grass as he walked. “Despite what you Rebels thought of me, I am actually quite good at tracking down people who don’t want to be found.”

Zeb chuckled, earning a _mrow_ from the loth-cat. “Sure you are. And stop talking like you aren’t a Rebel, already. You’re one of us and have been for a while.”

Now Kallus came into his field of view, sitting down next to Zeb in the grass. Something about the man’s face looked profoundly sad. Zeb wasn’t fully confident in his ability to read human emotions and facial expressions, though, so he said nothing out loud, keeping his worries to himself.

“I’m sorry. Long-time habit,” Kallus said. He nodded at the loth-cat. “Looks like you’ve made a friend.”

“This brat?” Zeb tried to scoff. “He’s just irritating me.”

“She,” corrected Kallus. He pointed to the loth-cat’s midsection. “Either this is an unusually well-fed tooka or she’s pregnant.”

Glaring down at the loth-cat again, Zeb grumbled, “I hope you don’t plan on usin’ my chest to give birth on. I don’t want to deal with you, much less a litter of loth-kittens.”

The loth-cat lifted her head and trilled at him again. Out of the corner of his eye, Zeb saw Kallus smile – just a little smile, but a smile nonetheless.

_ Blast it _ . He didn’t want to move the thing now, not if it was making Kallus happy. He’d sit here and suffer for hours if it made Kallus smile.

…not that he’d ever admit as much.

“Why aren’t you back in town, partying?” Zeb asked.

Kallus quickly moved his gaze from the loth-cat and Zeb to a spot far off in the distance. “I’m not exactly welcome, you know.”

Zeb frowned. “Whaddya mean? You helped liberate the planet. You should be swarmed with people wanting to thank you.”

Kallus laughed shortly; just one brief chuckle and a slight quirk of the edges of his mouth.

Not that Zeb noticed tiny details like that.

“I may have defected, Zeb,” he said slowly, hugging his knees to his chest, “but Lothal still remembers Agent Kallus. And they have the right of it; I wasn’t a nice person and I am hardly a poster-child for the Rebellion now.”

Zeb wanted to growl, to march Kallus right back to the celebrations, and tell people just what _ex-Agent_ Kallus did for them, to save them. It would do no good, either to help Kallus’s mood or to change opinions about him, so he settled for resituating his hands, placing one on top of Kallus’s.

Kallus looked down at their hands, his face still and expressionless. Zeb thought about pulling back, but decided against it. It felt nice that way and Kallus wasn’t saying ‘no.’

Zeb was pretty sure Kallus liked him as more than a brother-in-arms, more than just a fellow survivor of Bahryn. And if he were being honest with himself, Zeb returned those feelings fourfold. Unfortunately, there was a lot going on – a Rebellion, for example. Now wasn’t the time to start something serious. 

_ You could have him for a night and walk away _ , said a traitorous voice in his head. _But you_ love _him_.

Serious would have to wait until they weren’t in danger of dying every day, until the Empire was nothing but a bad memory.

So, pretty much, it would never happen. Zeb reminded himself of that frequently, especially since he kept finding himself fantasizing about a life with Kallus. One in peace, after the war. One that involved being more than just friends.

Under his hand, Kallus’s shifted slightly, just enough to align their fingers, Kallus’s five fitting surprisingly well around Zeb’s four. The two of them – and the loth-cat – sat there until the sun was completely below the horizon.

If Zeb could’ve let himself get used to doing this every day with Kallus, he would have been a very happy lasat. He fully understood it wasn’t a realistic dream, but he gave into his desires just a little bit by carefully curling his fingers around Kallus’s and watching in silence as twilight turned to true night.

And all that time, the stupid loth-cat sat on his chest and purred.

**_ Lothal, Two Days Later _ **

Zeb tried to pretend he was still asleep, draped languidly over the top bunk and relishing the warmth of his blankets, but Kallus was stirring in the lower bunk. Zeb’s ears twitched involuntarily as he listened to the movement.

Kallus woke quickly, he’d discovered over the last few days. It was, quite frankly, irritating when they didn’t have an emergency to attend to. Since Lothal’s liberation, there hadn’t been any emergencies, just celebrations. And, among the ranks of their little Rebel cell, mourning for Kanan and Ezra. The last few days had been deeply emotional, with big highs and even bigger lows, but it hadn’t been physically draining.

Zeb peered through one sleepy eye, watching Kallus rise and don a shirt. Kallus had a very attractive back for a human, with freckles coating his shoulders and toned muscles. Scars crisscrossed his midsection, some old and some still fresh from Thrawn’s torture. Desperately, Zeb hoped Kallus would turn around and let him see the man’s front, but he said nothing. 

Kallus pulled down his shirt and finally turned to face Zeb. “It’s past dawn. Are you getting up?” he asked, then his eyes went wide and he pointed at Zeb’s back. “How did _that_ get in here?”

“If you’re makin’ fun of me…,” Zeb grumbled, even though he couldn’t imagine Kallus doing such a thing. He shifted, starting to push himself off the bed.

“ _Mrow_?”

Zeb froze, realizing the warmth on his back was not a blanket. He rolled quickly, knocking the loth-cat to the ground. “Karabast! How’d that thing get in here?” He frowned at it. “Is this the same one from the other night?”

Kallus crossed his arms, watching the loth-cat closely. “I believe I just asked that. And yes, it appears to be.”

The loth-cat looked mildly disturbed for a moment, but recovered and rubbed against Kallus’s legs. He reached down to scratch the loth-cat on its head.

“Hello, girl,” Kallus said, unexpectedly gentle. “Did you follow Zeb on board? He _is_ soft and fuzzy, isn’t he? Nice place to sleep.”

As soon as they were out, Zeb and Kallus both froze in shock at Kallus’s words, said so tenderly and easily. Kallus quickly looked away, cheeks turning a not-so-faint pink.

“Sorry, I, uh…”

Zeb didn’t grant him any mercy; he waited silently for Kallus to continue. He hoped this came across as cool and collected and not him being distracted by mental images of Kallus falling asleep using his chest as a pillow, their limbs intertwined. Zeb had to swallow to keep a straight face.

Kallus still wouldn’t meet his eyes, but seemed to feel that something needed to fill the silence. “I always wanted a tooka, you know. My mother felt they were dirty and shed everywhere.” He knelt back down to pet the loth-cat, a move which allowed him a continued excuse to pretend he wasn’t _really_ talking to Zeb.

Zeb took a deep breath and chuckled. “Huh. Wonder what she’d say about you being friends with me?”

“She’d be horrified, as any proud Imperial Coruscanti would be,” said Kallus simply. Finally, he looked up and caught Zeb’s eye, no shame left in his expression.

_ He’s too good at hiding his emotions _ , Zeb thought.

Kallus took Zeb by surprise when he actually _grinned_. “Maybe that’s why I like being y– your friend. Still acting out all these years later.”

Zeb scoffed. “I can’t imagine you ‘acting out,’ Kal.”

“Oh, you might be surprised, _Garazeb_ ,” said Kallus, standing up and never losing eye contact. “I have a whole past you don’t know about. I wasn’t always an upstanding ISB member.”

_ …That  _ gave Zeb some ideas. His eyes widened, body starting to betray just what sort of ideas they were. He gulped. “Yeah?” he tossed back. “You wanna tell me some of those stories?”

_ Friend. He said ‘friend.’ Calm down, Zeb. This ain’t sabacc. Don’t overplay your hand. _

“Mmm,” hummed Kallus. “That could probably be arranged.”

Zeb was lost, too far gone in those amber eyes to respond properly. He stumbled forward a step, coming in close to Kallus.

Kallus had kept eye contact this whole time, and now he licked his bottom lip and Zeb wanted nothing more than to grab the human’s face in his hands and scent him properly. Maybe even try that kissing thing humans liked. His fingers twitched, aching to be run through that golden hair.

Zeb wasn’t the only anxious one. Kallus’s hand trembled as he slowly reached up, heading for Zeb’s cheek. Zeb closed his eyes in anticipation.

“ _MROW_!” yowled the loth-cat suddenly, climbing – with very sharp claws – up Zeb’s leg.

Zeb yelped and reached down to shove the loth-cat off. “ _Karking cat_! Get off me!”

“You two okay?” came Sabine’s voice through the door. “Zeb?”

Well, now the mood was completely shot. Zeb couldn’t help but growl.

Kallus reached down and plucked the loth-cat from Zeb’s leg, petting it and making it purr. “Guess we better deal with our stowaway.” He nudged the door controls with his elbow.

Sabine waited on the other side. She made a face. “Put a shirt on, Zeb.” The loth-cat mewed again and got Sabine’s attention. “Cutie! Did you sneak it on board?”

Kallus scritched the loth-cat’s head, eliciting a louder purr. “Seems like she snuck herself on board.”

Sabine shrugged, though she still smiled at the loth-cat. “Hera won’t let you keep it and I’m not staying with you to help convince her.” She shrugged a backpack higher on her shoulders – her things for staying on Lothal, Zeb figured.

“I don’t want to keep it,” Zeb protested. “Kriffing thing won’t leave me alone.”

“Suuuuure,” said Sabine, looking at Kallus. Zeb glanced over at his– his friend and saw that Kallus was watching the loth-cat lovingly.

Zeb sighed. He was going to lose this battle, wasn’t he?

“Well, you better figure it out before Hera comes back from the market. You guys are leaving for Yavin today. And like I said, Zeb, put a shirt on.” Sabine rapped on the wall again before she left.

Grumbling, Zeb turned around and pulled on the top half of his jumpsuit, the fabric stretching as usual when he zipped it up. He could practically feel eyes boring into his back and looked over his shoulder. Kallus was watching him dress, just as he’d watched Kallus dress.

Reciprocation. He hadn’t expected that. They’d roomed together for a few nights already, Kallus having had the choice of Ezra’s old bed with Zeb or Kanan’s old bed with Rex. Zeb hadn’t said it out loud, but he was grateful Kallus chose him.

Of course, he hadn’t known just what being in close quarters every night would entail. The _smell_ of Kallus seeping into the bed was intoxicating; Zeb got a whiff every time Kallus rolled over in the night. Having to wake Kallus every time he had a nightmare and remind him he was safe now, that Thrawn was gone, heart breaking every time Kallus cried out in the night. Trying not to watch each other dress in the mornings, for fear of crossing some imaginary but very real line that hovered between them.

Zeb hadn’t had _these_ problems with Ezra, but Ezra was like a little brother. Kallus was… significantly more than that.

The cat _mrow_ ed one more time from its spot snuggled in Kallus’s arms.

Kallus rubbed the cat’s chin, getting happy noises from the thing. “You know, Imperial ships keep tookas around for pest control. They become mascots for the various stormtrooper companies. Maybe having one around wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Zeb shook his head. “We don’t need a _mascot_.”

“Pest control, then. With everything the _Ghost_ smuggles, surely you come across rodents. And if not here, then for Yavin.”

Zeb frowned. “You really want to keep this loth-cat, don’t you?”

Kallus looked away. “I think it’s a logical choice and she’s practically moved in already.”

“One night, Kal! She showed up one night! And you said yourself: she’s pregnant. Last thing we need are kittens running around the ship!”

Kallus said nothing.

With a belabored sigh, Zeb reached over and plucked the loth-cat from Kallus’s arms. He intended to toss the thing outside and never look back but…

Kallus was watching the loth-cat, with an expression Zeb thought meant longing. _Kriff_. He really wanted to keep the blasted thing, didn’t he?

If it meant Kallus smiled more, how could Zeb say no? Maybe keeping a loth-cat around would help them all.

They’d still have to deal with the kitten thing, but it’d probably work itself out if they let them loose at the Yavin base, like Kallus had said.

Zeb nodded, sure now. “I’ll talk to Hera about keeping it, okay?”

The look he got from Kallus was pure gratitude. 

If it was this easy to make him happy, Zeb would have to do it more often. Even if it meant keeping a loth-cat around.

**_ Yavin 4, Two Weeks Later _ **

Hera ran through the _Ghost_ , yelling. “Get ready! We’re being called to Scarif!”

Kallus looked up from the Dejarik game he and Zeb were in the middle of. “Scarif?” he asked, confused. “That’s the Imperial Security Complex. We shouldn’t be going there.”

“Imperial Security, eh?” Zeb said. “Your old crew?”

Kallus nodded. “ISB has a vault there, but it’s mostly information storage. Schematics and information about every project the Empire has ever undertaken. I rarely visited the place; it was more for deskbound officers wanting to semi-retire on the beach than field agents.”

Hera stuck her head back into the lounge. “I’m serious. One of you, get the ship ready to launch and the other, go find Chopper.”

“I’ll get the ship,” said Kallus, standing.

Zeb sighed. Kallus was trying to get piloting practice in, but Zeb didn’t want to have to hunt down that crazy droid. Apparently Kallus didn’t want to track down the crotchety old C1 either and Zeb was always going to give in to Kallus in the end. “Fine. I’ll find Chopper.”

Stepping off the _Ghost’s_ ramp, Zeb finally heard the alarms and announcements muted by the thick hull of the ship. “ _…Attention all flight personnel, please report to your commanders immediately. We have been redirected to Scarif. Pilots…”_

_ Huh. Is that Wedge? The kid’s probably kicking himself for getting land-bound duty when another battle is about to happen. _

“Chopper!” he roared over the sound of many ships powering up.

He heard Chopper’s distinctive warble coming from behind the ramp. Zeb walked around and saw the droid in a tug-of-war with the loth-cat.

“Chopper,” said Zeb, exasperated. “Let Tiki have the toy. Kal made it for her, anyway.”

_ Wah-wah-waaah-wah _ . Chopper let go but shook his clamps at Zeb angrily.

“Go tell it to Hera, buddy. She wants you inside _now_. We’re taking off.”

Chopper beeped and rolled around to the ramp. Zeb bent down and picked up Tiki.

“You’re still a bundle of trouble, you know? You do know that, _tikita_?”

Tiki just purred, reaching out a clawed foot to try and reach Zeb’s fur. Sighing, he pulled the cat closer and let her knead his chest. 

Zeb got through the indignity by picturing the look in Kallus’s eyes whenever a crew member played with the loth-cat. “The things I do for him,” he muttered, trudging back aboard the _Ghost_.

Hera met him in the hold. “I just sent Chopper to the Phantom. I want Kallus up top and you below.”

When Zeb passed her on his way to the nose turret, she scratched at the loth-cat’s head. Hera closed the ramp and hurried back to the cockpit. Zeb held the cat at arm’s length again. “Stay out of this, you hear? I don’t want you under my feet while I’m tryin’ to shoot.”

The loth-cat mewed in response, wiggling to be let down. Zeb happily set her on the floor and the cat ran straight to the ladder, climbing it with surprising dexterity.

“Sometime I swear you use the Force, too,” Zeb grumped as the cat’s tail disappeared from sight. He squeezed into the gun turret’s too-tiny-to-be-comfortable seat and turned on the comm. “Spectre-4 ready to go.”

“Fulcrum ready to go,” came back Kallus’s curt reply.

“Okay boys,” said Hera, the _Ghost_ rumbling as its repulsorlifts kicked in. “We’re off to Scarif.”

“Do you know what we’re doing at Scarif?” Zeb asked.

“Oh, _kriff_ ,” said Kallus. “It’s the stolen shuttle from earlier. The one Cassian took. They were going to Scarif; we’re their backup, aren’t we?”

“That’s right,” said Hera. “Prepare for battle.”

“General, the Empire’s defenses there–”

Hera didn't even correct Kallus for using her rank. “I _know_ , Fulcrum. We don’t have a choice.”

Zeb didn’t know about the Empire’s defenses, but he could guess. “Another suicide mission?” he muttered, comm offline. “I’m gettin’ tired of these.”

He watched through the window as the Yavin jungles grew smaller beneath his feet, stars soon transforming themselves into the familiar lines of hyperspace.

“One hour, guys,” Hera said. “Be ready for anything.”

Of course, being ‘ready for anything’ wasn’t enough when the gigantic Imperial battlestation popped out of hyperspace, practically on top of the _Ghost_.

“Karabast! What is that thing?”

“I think,” bit out Kallus between potshots at TIEs, “that this is that project the defector was trying to warn us about this morning. Director Krennic’s program, the planet killer.”

“Oh great. It’s dumping out TIEs now,” said Hera sarcastically. “Incoming, guys!”

“On ‘em.” Zeb concentrating on firing. He wished he was battling with his bo-rifle instead; he was much better one-on-one than shooting from a moving ship. That didn’t mean he wasn’t able to take out his fair share of the fighters.

A TIE he missed came flying straight at him, but a pulse of lasers from above knocked it out of position and sent it tumbling down into Scarif’s atmosphere.

“Thanks, Kal,” he said.

“Anytime, Zeb. I–”

Kallus was cut off as a massive laser beam, larger than Zeb had seen from even the biggest Star Destroyers, shot out from the battlestation and…

“Why’d they hit their own planet?” Zeb wondered.

“To stop us from stealing information,” Hera said. “Which we got anyway. Prepare for a hyperspace run!”

Zeb latched down his seat for the jump, watching in terrified awe as the planet started crumbling from the blast. If he hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t believe that a single battlestation could do that much damage. The massive tower, visible from space, fell in on itself. Somehow, Zeb didn’t think their agents made it out before the tidal wave hit them and it caused a pang in his heart to think of even more loss.

As soon as hyperspace swirled safely around the _Ghost_ , Zeb slipped the seat restraints and ran to the ladder. He reached the door to the lounge before running full-force into Kallus.

They tumbled to the ground, a mess of limbs, with Kallus landing atop Zeb. Both men froze, eyes locked. The air in the room seemed to get heavy and hard to breathe. Kallus’s fingers curled into Zeb’s short fur, pulling at it a little too hard – but Zeb was too distracted to feel the pain. He was busy watching Kallus’s face, emotions flitting across it too quick for Zeb to read. His amber eyes glowed, the slightest beginnings of worry lines forming at the edges, his freckles clear and distinct at this distance. It was too much, Zeb thought. How could he move? But how could he stay here when he couldn’t touch–?

Kallus’s brow furrowed and he moved quickly, taking Zeb by surprise, a sudden desperate smash of lips on lips. It took Zeb a moment to realize he was supposed to respond and to figure out how to do that. Kissing seemed complicated – he’d always thought it was just lips, but apparently teeth and tongue were involved too – but it wasn’t as weird as he thought it might be. It was… _nice_.

This close, he got a noseful of Kallus, sweaty and stressed and utterly delicious, and that did more for Zeb than anything. He wrapped his arm around the other man, holding him tight and not planning to let him go until someone interrupted them.

The next thing he knew, that blasted loth-cat was licking at the fur on top of his head. Zeb growled into Kallus’s mouth, pushing him away so he could deal with Tiki.

Kallus looked shocked and embarrassed as Zeb lifted him off his chest. “I– I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to–”

“Kal,” Zeb said firmly. “Don’t be sorry. I’m not mad at you. I _liked_ kissing you and I want to do it again. I just need this karking cat out of here first.”

On cue, Tiki mewed pitifully.

Chopper rolled in the lounge and blatted disdainfully at the men on the floor.

Kallus looked up at the droid. “What do you mean, ‘get a room’?”

“I’ll shove _you_ in a room and shut down the controls,” Zeb threatened. “And I’m throwing Tiki in there with you. You two hellions deserve each other.”

Kallus swatted Zeb’s chest. “Tiki is a very well behaved tooka,” he said with an actual smile on his face.

“You’re loopy from the battle,” Zeb said firmly, sitting up. Momentarily, Kallus was sitting in his lap, legs wrapped around Zeb’s waist. Zeb gently stroked Kallus’s cheek with the back of his claws, ready to get back to what they’d been doing.

This time, it was Zeb who moved, leaning down just a bit to rub the scent glands behind his cheeks on Kallus’s face.

“Are you… marking me with your scent?” Kallus asked, eyes closed and face tilted so Zeb had better access.

“Scenting,” Zeb said with a grin. “Marking’s for later. In the bedroom.”

Kallus’s eyes flew open and his jaw dropped a little at Zeb’s statement.

Zeb tried to read Kallus’s eyes, to see if he was reacting out of shock, desire, or fear.

“You mean… you would want to do that… with me?” Kallus spoke with obvious disbelief.

“Kal, I would do anything with you,” Zeb admitted. He was being more upfront and honest than he had ever been with Kallus, shocking himself with his own nerve.

“Right now, you’d better get ready for landing,” Hera said, walking into the lounge.

Kallus carefully pulled himself from Zeb’s embrace, blushing prettily as he did so. “Yes, General,” he said. “They’ll probably want me in Intelligence as soon as possible to help analyze the data that was transmitted.”

“An’ I’ll get to work fixing up the _Ghost_ ,” Zeb said with a sigh.

“Good. After that, I don’t care what you do as long as you clean up after.”

Zeb was grateful that lasats didn’t blush; he would be as bright red as Kallus was otherwise. He rose, carefully standing at arm’s length from Kallus.

Chopper rolled over to Hera, blatting an ‘I told you so.’ She reached down and patted the top of the droid’s dome.

At his feet, Tiki started trilling happily again, rubbing her round face against his feet. 

“Oh, and feed her,” Hera added, disappearing into the cockpit once more with Chopper.

Kallus stammered some excuse and ran off to their room, leaving Zeb standing there alone, staring after him wistfully.

Well, almost alone.

Zeb reached down and picked up Tiki, scratching her chin. He sighed. “Are you trying to mess me up, _tikita_? You have very bad timing.”

Tiki squirmed until she was upside down, baring her belly. Zeb gently stroked it, wondering how long they had before the kittens came. He’d worried about what to do with them, but in the past two weeks, more Rebels than he expected had expressed interest in adopting one.

Zeb looked the loth-cat in the eye once more. “Guess you’re part of the family now, aren’t you?”

Tiki made a happy noise and purred loudly. Zeb took that as a yes. Carefully, he set her down and patted her on the back.

“Go on, now,” he said. “We’ve both gotta get back to work. Me to fixing things, you to catching them.”

Tiki just flicked her tail and sauntered off.

Zeb was glad no one was around to see his grin.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr and flail over Rebels and Kalluzeb! [hixystix](https://hixystix.tumblr.com/) is my main blog, and [x-wing-junkie](https://x-wing-junkie.tumblr.com/) is my _Star Wars_ blog. New friends always welcome!


End file.
